Method and apparatus for load balancing in cellular communication systems

摘要

The present invention generally relates to cellular communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to load balancing in cellular communication systems. A method for load balancing in a cellular communication system comprise: receiving forward link load conditions in an area covered by a first sector and at least one second sector adjacent to the first sector, wherein the first and the second sectors belong to different cells; if it is determined that a distribution of the forward link load conditions deviates from a predetermined equilibrium, adjusting coverages of the first and the second sectors to make the distribution move toward the predetermined equilibrium.

主权项

1. A method for load balancing in a cellular communication system, comprising:
receiving forward link load conditions in an area covered by a first sector and at least one second sector adjacent to the first sector, wherein the first and the second sectors belong to different cells, wherein the forward link load conditions are represented by resources available for setting up a call by base stations in the first and the second sectors; in response to determining that the first sector has an availability of the resources being less than a first threshold and each of the second sector has an availability of the resources being greater than a second threshold, determining that a distribution of the forward link load conditions deviates from a predetermined equilibrium; and adjusting coverages of the first and the second sectors to make the distribution move toward the predetermined equilibrium, wherein adjusting the coverages of the first sector and the second sectors comprises:
shrinking the coverage of the first sector and expanding the coverage of the second sector not overlapped with the first sector until the availability of the resources for the first sector is greater than the first threshold or until each of the second sector has an availability of the resources being equal or less than a third threshold.